Thursday, March 6, 2008

A Big Crash

Ah, how vulnerable we choose to make ourselves with our silly dependencies!  As I noted yesterday on Accidental Dharma, I stopped off for breakfast at Denny's after leaving my Prius at the Toyota service department, blithely assuming that Denny's would have wireless connection.  Well, apparently they did.  I saw it there on my laptop and was trying to access it when the whole thing crashed.  

With remarkable equanimity, I got on with my sausage and eggs (and a well-toasted English muffin), picked up the Prius and drove back home.  Still nothing.  An hour's delightful conversation with Apple Care, at the end of which my despairing advisor suggested reloading Leopard.  I started the process.  Four hours later, it was still "installing," with two minutes to go.  It had been registering two minutes for the past two hours.  Another call, this time to a "product specialist"--I think that was the term.  Another hour or so later, he suggested radical surgery: the hard drive would need to be wiped clean, and everything on it lost.  

Well, okay.  I'm fortunate enough to have my desktop, where most of my work is stored.  No big deal.  I'd have to transfer a lot of stuff, but it would not be the end of the world.   And, well, I did succeed in erasing everything.  But things have not returned to normal.  This morning, the laptop was indulging in other strange behaviors--and not the ones I wanted it to.  In a word, I try not to use too often, but which seems appropriate here, I think it's truly fucked.

Perhaps the reason I'm not tearing out my hair is that I do have the alternative.  But I like to think, too, that I have learned something in my ten plus years on the meditation cushion.  A few short years ago, the word I resorted to at the end of the last paragraph would have been mild compared with the language coming out of my mouth.  Now it's just, Right Speech, Equanimity, Impermanence...  Sweetness and Light.  See?  There's something about these Buddhist teachings that does actually work.   

8 comments:

roger said...

i think you stumbled upon the proper technical term to describe your laptop's condition. very zen.

Peter Clothier said...

Ah, yes, Roger. As the French call it, "le mot juste"! Good to hear from you, as always.

Anonymous said...

Alas, don't I know how you feel. Three weeks ago I wrote about a spate of problems I had on my MacBook Pro. I thought I'd taken care of them by the end of the day. Since then, however, I've erased and reinstalled the system at least four times.The problems included an external display, my scanner, and a bluetooth mouse. Fortunately, things have been going smoothly since Sunday last.

Also fortunately, I do at least one daily backup of my entire hard drive on an external drive. I lost no data, but the hours and hours of time I spent put me way behind in my various projects. Today is the first day I've had a chance to even glance at the blogs I follow, let alone contribute to my own.

Good luck in getting things back up and running. I'd be glad to help, if I can.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

Yes, the teachings work until -- they don't. The Wrong Speech words are always lurking, awaiting their chance to take you by surprise.

I'm sorry for your trouble, to which I can utterly relate but grateful to hear honest feedback on Mac books.

We have an all-Mac household and have been mostly happy with them, but lately I've been eying the ultra-thin one at the Apple store and can feel my credit card heating up at the prospect.

I hope things get healthier (un-fucked?) at your house soon.

Anonymous said...

Today's entry has me wondering whether my father - a committed Jew - was also a Buddhist.

He often spoke about the Hebrew word "shalom" (normally translated as peace), which he defined as "perspective" - the absence of internal conflict, or the ability to determine what's most important in life. (e.g. when and how to use the word "fuck!").

Brad Fallon said...

My external hard drive made my laptop crash and not start. Any ideas on how to help?

eb-5 visa said...

My personal diary of my positive life and my walk in the Vortex. It is my intention to evolve and expand and grow in great joy, love and compassion as a cooperative vibration: the further manifestation of the Heart of the Buddha

Herman Miller Aeron said...

Why does my laptop crash to a blue screen and then reboots before i can read the blue screen?